Team NZ now have four points, having previously beaten Luna Rossa and Artemis when they defaulted those races last week.

In the only two-boat contest to date, the Kiwis powered away from Italian rivals Luna Rossa on Sunday (NZT) to win the first two-boat race of the regatta.

Team NZ dominated from the pre-start, before skipper Dean Barker and his crew scorched clear and extended their lead around every mark to win by more than five minutes.

The Kiwis showed straight line speed that eclipsed the Italians on both upwind and downwind legs, with a top speed of 42.33 knots compared to Luna Rossa's 39.95 knots.

Team NZ bowman Jeremy Lomas said the focus was still on improvement, despite the lack of opposition.

"Today we worked on things that we didn't do so well yesterday when we raced Luna Rossa. It's important that we make these incremental advances every time we take the AC72 out - racing or not Hong Kong loan important notice."